Colleges have most to lose if vote to increase sales tax fails

[Source: The Arizona Republic] – Higher-education leaders often feel as if their operations are the main targets of budget cutters in the Legislature.

Arizona’s university system would take the greatest percentage cut of any state entity if the proposed 1-cent-per-dollar sales-tax hike fails.

University presidents say the ensuing $107 million cut, which represents 12 percent of their state funding, would be a significant blow because it would come on top of reductions over the past two years that totaled $200 million, or 18 percent, of their combined budgets. Those cuts came even as enrollment continued to grow.